Hello everyone,

 

An older engineer here (EE) on a short glide path to retirement (as soon as I wrap up selling my small business). And in conjunction with that I'm planning to retire the last of my little beater / commuter cars (Geo Metro) and look for about a 4 - 5 year old Forester or Outback.  I don't buy new cars and prefer to do my own wrench work to the extent possible.  I have two older Volvos as hobby cars ('70 and '71 1800E) and enough background over the last 50 or so years to take on all maintenance and many overhaul tasks.  Over the years I've learned that there are always things to look for when buying any make &  model year (known weaknesses or general trouble spots) and since I'll be looking to buy privately, I figured I'd get on a forum like this to 'pick the brains' of those who have experience and can offer tips on what to look for.

 

My first question, after taking only a quick look at this message board, is this,  the later model Forester / Outback etc. topic list, the best place to post such generic questions or is there a better place?

 

 

Dave

in Iowa   

Welcome to the USMB, Dave--this is a great place for everything Subaru.  And yes, post your questions here in the "Newer Generation Forum."

Dave,

Welcome to USMB forum. You have picked a good place to ask your questions. Lots of good people here, who know a lot about Subies. My wife and I have two Subies, that I keep running by the grace of God, and good advise from here. From my years of reading here, either a  4 or 5 year old Forester or Outback would be desireable cars. All Subies are built tough, and really don't break down, if given proper maintenance.

 

The problem with Subarus blowing head gaskets has pretty much been corrected, that was about there only weak point. All Subarus are easy to get a wrench on, with the exception of changing spark plugs, that is difficult, but not something done often. Changing belts, alternator, or starter is very easy to do.  Changing brake pads is straight forward, easy to do.

welcome, yep correct forum.  i'm an engineer too, AE.

 

99-2009 non-turbo Foresters have head gaskets that externally leak coolant and/or oil. 

check head to block mating surface underneath for leaks.

they get worse over long periods of time, so you can drive them 10's of thousands of miles by simply keeping fluids topped off.

they don't mix oil/coolant so there's no worries about catastrophic failures.

 

you can get a good deal by buying one that's already leaking, known bad and buy it inexpensively.

resurface the heads, use quality headgaskets and you're good to go.

 

i took a friend who was looking for 2004-2009 Subarus three weeks ago and 8 out of 10 on the lots locally had failing headgaskets.

inspect carefully.

 

rare, but check for torque bind.

Many thanks to those who've already replied.... (some good advice re: head gaskets, already, and I have a good machine shop I work with for my hobby cars).

 

At this point, I have a willing buyer for my business  who's looking into financing (I don't believe he'll have a lot of trouble) so, during some slack time at the shop, I decided to post here and get started with some contacts.  After all is said in done (month, six-weeks ??) I'm going to start looking around (Ebay, Craig's list  - and yeah I'm familiar with the cautions associated with that one, and so on) and when I find a candidate car(s) I'll be back to see if there are any model year specific things to look for. 

 

In the mean-time, I do have one more general question.  Overall I (very much) prefer standard transmissions over automatics, but it's worth asking about the CVT I see Subaru has out.  The rest of the car and the overall deal would have to be attractive for me to consider it, but if I DO happen on one with the CVT, what can any of you share with me regarding their performance?

 

BTW - in a past life, before starting my current company, I was a certified reliability engineer (Industrial process control systems) and one of the things that attracts to the Subaru (and Volvo before they became too expensive for mere mortals to afford) is their reliability.

 

Dave

You're approaching this like a true engineer--that's great!  Reliability is one of Subaru's strongsuits.  I can't really speak to anything newer than 1996 (!) but good PM--preventive maintenance--and a little TLC--and they'll run "forever!"

The CVT has had few issues so far, not many issues with it.

 

Ask friends or go to local lots and test drive some automatics. It's nearly impossible to convince someone to change their distaste for an automatic, so probably not a good fit. People that love manuals love manuals.

 

With clutches, synchro's, input shaft bearing issues, and center diff failure and the robustness of automatic transmissions - auto's have proven less maintenance and more reliable for me, so I prefer auto's now.